ANGKOR THOM TEMPLE
DELIGHT IN THE DETAIL
OF ANGKOR’S ANCIENT CAPITAL
ANGKOR THOM,
established in the late twelfth century to early thirteenth century by King
Jayavarman VII, is now a very popular tourist spot. This site, some 9 sq km in
extent, is situated 1.7 km north of the Angkor Wat. It was the last and most
enduring capital city of the Khmer empire built by Angkor’s greatest King,
Jayavarman Vll) (Ruled 1181 -1201). Within this fortified city are several
monuments from earlier eras as well those established by Jayavarman and his
successors.
Centered on Baphuon ,
Angkor Thom is enclosed by a square wall 8 m high and 12 km in length and
protected by a surrounding moat 100m
wide which was said to be infested with hundreds of ferocious crocodiles during
that time. The city has 5 monumental gates, one each in the north, west and
south walls and 2 in the east wall. In front of each gate stand giant statues
of 54 gods (to the left of the causeway) , a motif take from the story of the
Churning of the Ocean of Milk illustrated in the famous bas –relief at Angkor
Wat. In the center of the walled enclosure are the city’ most important
monuments, including the Bayon, the
Baphuon , the Royal Enclosure , Phimeanakas and the Terrace of Elephants.
LANDMARK: GUARDIANS
The causeway leading
to Angkor Thom has 108 statues ( 54 gods and 54 demons) which guard the entrance.
Inspired by the epic on the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, these statues are
positioned on both sides of the causeway differentiating good and evil.
No comments:
Post a Comment